Wiendish Fitch

I'm the one who defended the 1999 version, but I will heartily agree with you on this one. Bernadette Peters is a class act with talent oozing out her pores, while Chenoweth and her tinny voice get on my last nerve.

My Star Wars UO: I hate Yoda's philosophy "Do or do not do, there is no try". I have never agreed with this sentiment. In order to do something properly, you have to try until you succeed. Without "trying", there is no "doing". Yoda is an idiot.

Thank you for clarifying :) Let me be clear: I didn't enjoy watching Theon (or "Reek", whichever you prefer) get tortured. At. All. I don't enjoy watching him, period. At the same time, I will never, ever feel sorry for him. I'm weary of him, and that sniveling sociopath Ramsay Bolton, too. I want them both gone so I can go back to watching more interesting characters. That's my story and I'm-a stickin' to it.

Those are UOs? The Sword in the Stone is pretty beloved, the last time I checked, as is Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Yeah, the latter may not be as beloved as, say, Mary Poppins, but close enough. I admit I never liked The Jungle Book (I don't like the dingy, scratchy animation, the songs grate my nerves, and I find myself missing Kipling's lyricism), and even the presence of Idris Elba won't compel me to see the remake. Simon Pegg used to be funny, but now I find him tiresome and over-employed. Everyone will stone me for this, but I'll chance it. *Deep breath*... I prefer the 1999 Annie to the 1982 version! I'm not saying the 1999 one is perfect; Rob Marshall has never been my favorite director, Daddy Warbucks is way too nice, and Miss Hannigan isn't threatening enough (which is odd, because Kathy Bates can play harridans like nobody's business), but you know what? Alicia Morton is a better singer than Aileen Quinn, doesn't say "leapin' lizards!" every two minutes, and doesn't set my teeth on edge with shrill attempts at cuteness. The remake is a hell lot shorter and doesn't feel nearly as bloated as the original (even as a kid, I always found the climax in the original a little unnecessary). I also appreciate that they actually cast someone who could sing as Grace, and best of all? "Hard Knock Life" is actually sung and performed by kids who genuinely seem pissed off about their lot in life, not a bunch of chipper acrobats Fosse-ing it up in a vaguely inappropriate manner. Have you ever actually paid attention to the lyrics to "Hard Knock Life"? Empty belly life Rotten smelly life Full of sorrow life No tomorrow life "No tomorrow life"? That's a horrible thing for a kid to say! Those are the words of someone who has given up all hope! They shouldn't be giddily dancing around while singing about the desolate misery of their stolen childhoods! So, lecture me on my stupidity all you want, but I stand by my opinion.

Love Pinocchio, and can I say that the Blue Fairy is one of the most unsung Disney heroines? I love the wisdom, poise, and confidence she projects. I used to want to be her, to wear that badass sparkly blue dress, carry a wand, and be the powerful person behind the scenes. I think Pollyanna is the greatest live-action Disney movie ever, if only for its peerless direction, screenplay that is both heartfelt and intelligent, and, holy moly, that cast! Hayley Mills? Flawless, one of the best performances by a child actress I've ever seen. Jane Wyman? Never lovelier and more graceful. Karl Malden? Hey, he's never let me down before! Agnes Moorehead? A scene stealer as usual. Adolphe Menjou? Lovably eccentric... no, I'm serious, he is! Speaking of live-action Disney films, Candleshoe is criminally underrated (it's been a while since I used that expression). I like it even better than Freaky Friday (the original and remake). Jodie Foster, Helen Hayes, and David friggin' Niven in the same movie?! Yes, please!! It's kind of a dumb movie, but I gotta say, That Darn Cat! (the original, you know what the remake can go do) has one of the best theme songs to a live action Disney film I've ever heard (by Bobby Darin, no less!).

Game of Thrones UO: Nothing in this world will ever compel to sympathize with or give a dry crap about Theon Greyjoy. No, I don't condone torture, not in the slightest, but, dammit, he murdered children!! The fact that they were the wrong children doesn't excuse what he did! I'm sick of him and I wish they'd hurry up and conclude his pathetic excuse of a storyline.

Big word. As much as I love the late, great Roger Ebert, he actually seemed sympathetic to both those characters, which I don't get, because I found them both kind of monstrous. He was also weirdly forgiving toward's Samuel L. Jackson's disgusting father in Eve's Bayou. I just don't get it. Reality Bites: When Lalaina, just to spite her parents (who were generous enough to give her a credit card for gas, despite the fact she's an idiot who can't hold down a job) runs up a $900 credit card bill and gets away with it. I just wanted them to track her down and kick her ungrateful ass.

Ooh, them, too! Love Spencer Tracy (haven't watched enough Paul Muni, will have to remedy that). I guess I get weary of the attitude that "acting sucked until Marlon Brando came along!"

American Graffiti is one of the most boring movies I've ever sat through. All I remember is thinking that Suzanne Somers and Richard Dreyfus had absolutely no business playing teenagers (Dreyfus had a receding hairline, for God's sake!). I think its real title should be Morons Driving Cars for Two Hours: the Movie. I never thought Joan Leslie's character did anything wrong in High Sierra. So she didn't marry the 50 or 60-something guy she barely knew, then was later rude to him when he was rude to her? Yeah, I refuse to see her as a villain. I don't think Marlon Brando was all that great an actor, and I certainly don't think he invented modern screen acting. I think Burt Lancaster and Robert Mitchum did. I didn't think A League of Their Own was all that great. Sorry. I'd be perfectly fine if James Franco just went away and never came back. I think I prefer the 2015 Cinderella to the 1950 cartoon, because they at least tried to give our titular heroine a personality and didn't focus on the tiresome antics of her animal sidekicks. I love Astaire/Rogers, but the much ballyhooed Swing Time is redeemed only by their dance numbers. The plot is beyond stupid and uninteresting. For all the flack Top Hat gets for its plot, it's like Ibsen compared to the corny, zero-stakes storyline in Swing Time. And I just want to express my loathing for that creepy, hateful, mush-mouthed Victor Moore. Every time he's on screen, I either want to punch him or myself.

A slightly obscure one, in Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean, Sissy (Cher) has the utter audacity to get on her moral high horse and lecture Mona (Sandy Dennis) for her misdeeds (Mona does have it coming, but it should have come from someone else), and not one person, not a single person, calls out Sissy on the fact that she married Lester, the man who, as a teenager, attacked and raped her friend Joe. That's right, Sissy married the man who attacked and raped her friend in high school, and not once does she feel a pang of remorse for doing so. In fact, in a flashback, Sissy cheerfully goes on a date with Lester, even though she knows what he did! We're actually expected to feel sympathy for her because Lester turns out to be- gasp!- a bad husband! A man who brutalizes and rapes a classmate isn't such a catch after all?! Go on!

"As" by Stevie Wonder is one of the most breathtaking and incredibly arranged love songs I've ever heard. Stevie sings it with such passion and charisma, I have no choice but to be moved by it. Whenever I play it in my car, I honestly have to roll the windows down because I feel owe it to everyone to hear it. "The Boxer" by Simon and Garfunkel is another song I have to share with the world when I drive. "Stardust" by Nat King Cole. I love the tender, understated (no dramatic swells) orchestration, and the fact that the lyrics are a bit verbose, but still scan and work beautifully. Plus, Cole owns this song. Owns it. A lot of artists I like, such as Willie Nelson and Katie Melua have covered it, but, sorry, no version of "Stardust" can match Cole's rendition. Deanna Durbin is one of my favorite singers ever, and picking a beautiful song from this charming, accomplished musical star is a bit of an undertaking because there were so many. But one that comes to mind is "One Fine Day", the English language version of "Un Bel Di" from Puccini's Madame Butterfly. She was 17 years old when she recored this. 17. Years. Old.

Stephen Hawking "singing" Monty Python's "The Galaxy Song" from Meaning of Life. Yes, it is as awesome as it sounds.

Bingo (sorry, couldn't help myself). It sort of brought to mind the character of Sandy from The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. Miss Brodie lavished attention on her beautiful pupil Jenny, and gave glowing compliments to her other girls, but dismissed bookish Sandy as merely "dependable". This bland, backhanded compliment drove Sandy to do foolhardy things to prove Miss Brodie wrong, that she wasn't plain, boring, or "dependable". Even at the end, when she turns against Miss Brodie and seems to have found her voice, Sandy isn't free from that half-hearted assessment she received from someone she'd once admired. Everything she does, for the rest of her life, will, in some form or another, be to prove Miss Brodie wrong. As VeryNot so exquisitely illustrated, that's really brought about the birth of Saul Goodman. Jimmy has started out wanting to show Chuck he isn't "Slippin' Jimmy" anymore, and now he's rebelling against what Chuck is (a more respectable form of lawyer). Obviously, taking the position at that firm would be the smartest, most secure thing to do, but Jimmy is through with that tactic (plus, we'd have no show). The path of resistance hasn't brought him respect from anyone, least of all Chuck. Jimmy's reasoning and solution? He's going to have his cake and eat it too: Chuck can't handle "Slippin' Jimmy with a law degree?" Well, all the worse for Chuck, then! I loved the Bingo rant. Inappropriate as all get out (but then, Vince Gilligan loves his inappropriate moments, doesn't he?), but you could tell Jimmy has bottled this up for way too long, and when you're desperate enough to get something off your chest, you're not going to care who your audience is. Still, you can't say the seniors weren't at least a little intrigued. I wouldn't have wanted to be those poor Cub Scouts, though. Earth-shattering surprise, Chuck shows little remorse for his falling out with Jimmy. Nope, just another day, bossing around a new errand boy in the most smarmy, condescending way he can manage. Poor Ernie was a good sport, but I'll bet he was thinking, "4 years at law school, and I'm playing Bojangles to this nutter-butter." Kim really is a good friend, and, holy crap, an actual, honest-to-God apology from Jimmy! Apologies almost never happen on TV shows! VG and company, I love you all.

I worked at my college library back in the day, and I was told two students were caught having sex in one of the study rooms. I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure they were either escorted out by campus police, banned from the library, or both. I guess when they were told to "get a room", they took it completely the wrong way.

I've mentioned before how I'm glad Felicity Jones's career is gaining momentum, and I think a lot of it is due to how she's managed her career. I just love this quote she made a few years back: When you're a young actor, there's this pressure to rush. But I hope to be doing this into my sixties and seventies, so I'd prefer to take my time. There's so much of a desire in the entertainment industry for newness, a desire to build somebody up and then treat them as old news within six months. I think you'd be naive if you didn't try to hold on to your own way of doing things. Does anyone else want to give her a hearty pat on the back for showing such good judgment? Actresses, especially those who it big super young, have a harder time keeping the ball rolling after a certain age. Jones, who's been acting since she was 13, has wisely acted for the sake of acting (not achieving megastardom), took a break to go to college, selected mostly big parts in small movies or TV appearances, and is now achieving mainstream success in her early 30s which, by Hollywood's unfair standards, can be the twilight of most young actresses' careers. Because she was the never the under-25 "It Girl" or the inescapable ingenue, Jones never had to worry about bridging the gap. I wouldn't be surprised if Jones enjoys a nice, long career that, while maybe not red-hot, at least won't fade away overnight.

This is the best episode I've seen, and considering Better Call Saul has exceeded my expectations and has been nothing but strong and consistent, that's saying something. Even though there have been better, more intelligent and insightful contributions to the discussion of Chuck and Jimmy's falling out, I felt like adding my two cents. I get Chuck's feelings... wait, let me finish! During his rant, I almost got where he was coming from. Chuck's identity is wrapped up with being a lawyer. He buckled down and gotten where he is the old-fashioned way by working hard, getting into a prestigious law school, and making his way to the top (so the show implies, assuming Chuck never had any Jimmy/Saul-like tricks up his sleeve). In his eyes, Jimmy is the goofy little brother who charmed his way to his level, took the "easy way" (though Jimmy did buckle down and pass the bar, so I wouldn't really call that the "easy way"), and Chuck bristles at having to treat "Slippin' Jimmy" as an equal. I'm showing my age here, but anyone old enough to remember that Saved by the Bell episode where brainiac Jessie is shocked and incensed that lazy class clown Zack got a higher SAT score than she did? It sort of brought that to mind*. I'm not saying Chuck is right, I'm saying it's understandable. Whether we agree or disagree isn't the point. Ugly, resentful, and downright hateful thoughts and emotions are what make us human. Lord knows I have a list of people I don't like, or who I resent and/or envy, who doesn't? Who among us hasn't looked on someone as an unwanted rival and thought, "Who does he/she think he/she is?"? Chuck's feelings aren't the problem, as so many have rightly pointed out. His actions are. Chuck has blithely let Jimmy play nursemaid/errand boy/daddy and big brother figure during his bout of mental illness (I really like the theory that Chuck's latent guilt at undermining Jimmy perpetuated his "allergy to electricity"), taking Jimmy's kindness for granted all the while sabotaging his efforts behind his back for God knows how long. Chuck strikes me as a hyper-complacent person, someone who is all too comfortable with the status quo. He's the successful role model big brother, and Jimmy is the idiot kid brother he has always had to bail out of trouble. Even now, when they're both middle-aged men, and Chuck is the one who relies on Jimmy, Chuck refuses to see him as anything but an immature screw-up. He refuses to acknowledge that Jimmy, in spite of his myriad of flaws, has proven to be a vigilant, loyal, and loving brother who has complained very little about taking care of Chuck or all the accommodations he has to make for him (I wonder if the neighbors have ever thought to reach in the mailbox and steal Jimmy's watch, phone and keys?). Chuck still views Jimmy as a child, which is ironic, considering that Chuck has handled this whole situation - indeed, his own feelings - in the most immature fashion. Instead of leveling with Jimmy sooner, being honest about his feelings, and just bluntly telling him not to join HHM, Chuck has chosen to stew in his own juices, orchestrate an underhanded scheme to screw over his own brother, and make Hamlin the heavy just so he doesn't have to be the bad guy and get his hands dirty (and risk losing Jimmy's free help). Chuck is like the sneaky child who breaks a vase, discards the evidence, dodges accusations from Mom, and sits by while someone else takes the blame. Jimmy himself certainly has the lying gene, but he's nowhere near as vicious about it as Chuck. What makes this so heartbreaking for Jimmy (and Chuck, if he has anything resembling a conscience) is that Chuck could very well be the only family he has left, and he's been betrayed so horribly by him. I could be remembering incorrectly, but I don't recall any mention of their parents or other siblings, so it's possible it's just the two of them. Jimmy is sabotaged, humiliated, and viciously chewed out by the brother he has admired his whole life (and, for the record, is taking care of), learning the hard way that he will never, ever earn his respect or his trust. Is it any wonder that basically good-hearted Jimmy becomes slimy, brash, callous, devil-may-care Saul Goodman? *Then again, Jessie and Zack were teenagers and handled their situation a hell of a lot better than Chuck, who is staring down 60, handled his.

Love The Wizard of Oz, and I love the vaudevillian humor. "I'm all but lame from the bite on my leg!" (grrr, I hate Miss Gulch) "Y'mean she bit ya?" "No, her dog!" "Oh... she bit her dog, eh?" Or this gem, when the Lion is attacking Scarecrow and Tin Man: "Now, that's getting personal, Lion!" "Yeah, get up and teach him a lesson!" "W-what's wrong with you teaching him?" "Well, I hardly know him!" Gosh, I could go on all day if I'm not careful. Wonderful piece of trivia: Liza Minnelli was once married to Jack Haley, Jr. That's right, Dorothy's daughter married Tin Man's son! Is that not the most beautiful, poetic thing you ever heard?! Yeah, they divorced, but still!

The big screen version of The Great Gilly Hopkins, a book I loved as a kid, is coming either this year or next. It's a surprising choice, given that it's one of the less politically correct Newbery Honor books (our titular anti-heroine has a bit of a racist streak), but it boasts a strong cast (Kathy Bates, Octavia Spencer, Julia Stiles). But to the screenwriters, I implore, beg, beseech you: do whatever you feel you must to make the story palatable to modern audiences, but for the love of all that's good and decent, don't change the ending!! I think if kids, real or fictional, screw up, they should feel the sting of their actions. Katherine Paterson was so gutsy and wise to write such an ending. But, because of our "all kids are wonderful, special snowflakes" mentality, I have a bad feeling they'll sugarcoat the ending.

Don't forget her turn as the adulterous army wife in From Here to Eternity (not a comedy, but against type). I think once Greer Garson aged out of her "gently raised British woman with a noble spirit and a spine of steel who honorably renounced happiness when her life was scarred by heartbreak" (love that description, Julia!) image and her career cooled off, Deborah Kerr, another naturally refined, elegantly attractive European redhead, unofficially carried the torch. Like Garson, Kerr had plenty of critics who scoffed at her abilities, but I think she was a fabulous actress, especially in The Innocents.

That's Entertainment! 3 shows how the "Fascinatin' Rhythm" number was done, and wow, what a workout it was for the people who moved the sets!

Serena has finally been officially released in theaters, and is currently at 20% on Rotten Tomatoes. Anyone else seen this stinker yet and care to comment?

Same with that female cop (sorry, forgot her name) on The Fall.

I love Wes Anderson, but Grand Budapest Hotel did absolutely nothing for me. I thought it was too cold and kind of mean-spirited, and the pacing felt off. Fantastic Mr. Fox is still my favorite Anderson movie.

Is it weird that Michael Crawford is my favorite thing about Hello, Dolly! ? Yeah, he's never been the greatest actor, but, between way-too-young Barbra Streisand and tone-deaf Walter Matthau, he seems to be the only well-cast principal cast member, and darned if he doesn't give it his all. I confess some of my opinion is colored by Wall-E (God, I love "Put on Your Sunday Clothes"), but, yeah, overall, Hello, Dolly! is a disappointment. What's worse is the pedigree behind the scenes: Michael Kidd, the wonderful choreographer behind The Band Wagon and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers? Lennie Hayton, the great composer also from MGM's golden years (and husband of Lena Horne, in case you care)? Directed by Gene flippin' Kelly?! How could such a mass of talent create something so... meh?

Glad to hear it, voiceover. :)